Overview
- Speaking at a Bloomberg event in Boston, Brown called for athletes to invest alongside owners and to receive equity as part of compensation.
- He proposed a player-owned expansion franchise with basketball-related income shared among current players, retirees, and potentially the WNBA, crediting Andre Iguodala with the concept.
- Brown said he will press the issue in the next collective bargaining cycle, acknowledging limited union leverage and long-standing league resistance.
- The 2023 CBA allows only narrow stakes, including less than 1% of a publicly traded NBA team and up to 4% of a WNBA team.
- He cited surging franchise values and revenues, noting the Celtics’ $6.1 billion sale, the Lakers’ $10 billion valuation deal, and the league’s lucrative new media rights agreements.